yesterday-bump in the road or microcosm of what's to come

[CYVADER]

what does everyone else think? obviously there aren't a lot of positives to take out of the game from an offensive standpoint. a-rob continues to run well when he gets his touches, but other than that, we look eerily similar to last year. could this be a problem of personnel, they haven't picked up the new system as fast as we've hoped? the system has worked for herman in the past, so i'm doubting that it is the cause.

the defense was put in bad positions all day. how many times did our o actually cross midfield? i can't force myself to watch the replay, so i am completely guessing right now, but i can only think of a couple times that we crossed the 50. i'm surprised to see that they only had the ball 7 minutes longer than us-it seemed like our d was out there the entire game. all things considered, i thought they outplayed expectations yesterday.

looking forward-we have what most would consider to be 3 very winnable games-not gimmies by any stretch as we obviously have a long ways to go before we call any game against a fbs team a gimmie, but winnable none the less. i seriously doubt our ability to make a run at 6-6 and a possible bowl game this year, but i will be looking for marked improvement week to week, and that is still possible.

there are to many negatives to talk about yesterday, i think it is one of those games you throw the tapes away if you're the coach and just move forward to kent state. i as a fan am trying to do this, get back behind the team, and pull for the boys to break the streak next week in ohio. there is a lot of season left to play, and one bad game does not make the year. obviously if it continues, we will have to go from there, but let's see how the group reacts next week before any of us jump off the ledge

 

[dmclone]

I anticipate another crappy year with us winning 3 or 4 games. What really sucks in that the north is weak, we have the easiest schedule we'll have in a long time, etc.

 

[bos]

I anticipate another crappy year with us winning 3 or 4 games. What really sucks in that the north is weak, we have the easiest schedule we'll have in a long time, etc.

That is bad luck on the draw. The last couple of years set us up for this. Unfortunately we just have to let it run its course.

 

[herbicide]

I think we are in for a rough season. What people must realize this is the third coaching staff in 4 years (Read: not good for players execution) and we are trying to run a system that the players were not recruited for.

Anyone thought the team would pick up the new systems were drinking the kool aid.

 

[Rods79]

I think that it was both...Bump in the road in that we couldn't get our offense going and gave up momentum; microcosm because we couldn't make the necessary adjustments to win the ball game.

Honestly, it was a bad game, but if we can overcome it, it was a good one for learning experience. Now are players and staff have a good example of what doesn't work...you don't throw away this tape...you move on, but you don't throw it away.

If we don't take it to K-State...then I'll be worried.

 

[twistedredbird]

I agree this was just a bump in the road. I don't really think the game needs to be broken down or over analyzed, as I think the main key to this loss was lack of control of emotions. It was clear that the ISU players and coaches(offensively that is) were pressing and trying to hard, which caused most of the mistakes. The team(coaches and staff) were not letting the game come to them, they were trying to force their scheme, and it just wasn't working.

Frankly, I thought our defense looked pretty good in the first half, especially considering the field position Iowa got.

Offensively, AA was not making good decisions, and I am hopeful that Herman and Rhoads will learn from this game that you have take what you are given, and why not run the ball over and over and over until the other team starts to play run defense, then start throwing it, and mixing it up.

I was most sad to see the complete lack of composure that the team had displayed against NDSU that impressed me. They just tried way to hard and I don't think yesterday's game was a clear indicator of anything.

 

[clone136]

i am still drinking the kool-aid. our next three games are very winnable. A 4-1 start would be huge for confidence with this group. I am not sayin a bowl game is in the works but the same people who thought the iowa game would be a walk in the park simply because UNI almost beat them seem to be the same people saying our season is all but lost. I refuse to believe that....

 

[Cardinal&Gold11]

Where was it that someone put up the stats from Herman's first year at rice and his second year there. His offense wasn't all that special the first year but once the players got a chance to grasp it, they took off last year, as we all know

 

[isuno1fan]

I said 5-7 before this game with a win over Iowa at home. I thought Iowa would be 7-5.

Now I give us 4-8 and Iowa 8-4.

 

[isuno1fan]

Where was it that someone put up the stats from Herman's first year at rice and his second year there. His offense wasn't all that special the first year but once the players got a chance to grasp it, they took off last year, as we all know

This was the case for Rich Rodriguez as well. They showed his 1st year/2nd year stats at WVA and indicated Michigan looks to be following suit.

 

[CyBobby]

I anticipate another crappy year with us winning 3 or 4 games. What really sucks in that the north is weak, we have the easiest schedule we'll have in a long time, etc.

I will admit that you could be right with your assessment....If we do have another crappy four win year with the next two years of texas- ttu and ou it looks like it could be a trifecta of crappy years!!!!

Oh well nobody ever promised ISU football to be a winner ...just the usual athletic director selling HOPE.

 

[Clonehomer]

So we had one bad game and suddenly its doom and gloom. I"m not saying that I know that this season will be as good as originally thought but we really don't know at this point. The problem yesterday was with mistakes. Mistakes can be corrected. Physically we looked as though we could play. In the seasons that we struggled that was the issue. We have two very winnable games the next couple of weeks and if the team fix these mistakes we can win some games. Right now I see wins over Kent, Army, KSU, and Colorado. If we can pull off one more that makes us bowl elligible.

 

[simply1]

I have mixed feelings on the team. If Iowa is a very good team, then I'm happy with the play of the defense aside from 1 or 2 players, and the offense minues the QB. Unfortunately having such disastrous play at QB can quickly undermine the rest of the team's efforts, and my main concern is that they get some positive momentum going and fast. If they don't, then the defense won't hold up, as we've seen in past years, and every positive sign I took away from the game will melt away.

Hopefully AA or Tiller will be able to bring some sort of stability to the position. Switching offenses takes some time to get comfortable I guess, and how they will develop as well as how the offense will be adapted to the QB's we currently have will be interesting to watch.

 

[Longhorns3131]

The Kansas State game is for sure a win! They are terrible.

 

[isuno1fan]

The Kansas State game is for sure a win! They are terrible.

LOL...have you seen our team? There are no "for sure" wins for this team.

 

[MontyBurns]

I think Colorado is a more sure win than KSU. But both are winnable. I think Kent State will be a tougher opponent than either of those two teams.

 

[jsheajr]

I guess I'm just an optimistic person, because I really see ISU rebounding from this awful game, putting in some hard work in practice and winning the next 3 games. We'll put an end to both our road losing streak and Big 12 losing streak during that stretch. I have faith in Coach Rhoads and his staff that they are not taking yesterday's embarrassing loss lightly and will work the team hard this week and in the future.

 

[The_Architect]

We have to win against Kent State for the psyche of this team.

 

[intrepid27]

I think the defense made great progress from week one. they just nned some depth. Offense had a very bad day but it will come. Most of our offensive players have had 2 or 3 different coaching staff. I envy Iowa for their low turn over in coaching staff. Everyone knows just what to expect and older players can mentor younger ones instead of everyone having to learn somehting new.

 

[clone136]

if there is anything positive about yesterday, it was the defense. Iowa constantly working with a short field, they played well. WHEN the offense gets it together and I don't care if that means handing the ball to ARob 25+ a game, we will be just fine.